With a tip of the hat to Vicki's I Need Orange blog.
Pictures from our latest visit to Petrified Forest National Park. We continue to make good use of our long-anticipated senior passes.
The Rainbow Forest
The site of an ancient river bed, many stumps and pieces of trees were deposited here.
In some spots it is easy to see the river bed.
View to the north.
Below: the view to the south from the park road.
Tom tried to tell me that if I took my sunglasses off that the ground wouldn't appear in such shades of lavender and purple. But these unretouched photos from his camera match what my eyes saw.
The Crystal Forest
An interesting chunk that was white with orange stripes.
Sometimes it looks like regular new wood, not rock at all. You have to feel it to convince yourself.
Long logs have split into sections.
And some are not yet fully exposed.
Often the color of the logs matches the color of the minerals in the soil surrounding them.
You can clearly see the bark on this section.
One of the most fascinating spots: the ground looks like it is covered with wood chips: like a chainsaw has been at work. Each chip is rock.
And sometimes it looks like wood from someone's campfire.
The Jasper Forest
Look closely at all of the logs you can see below.
Logs protruding from the sandstone cliffs.
The Agate Bridge
The bridge was reinforced
Walk a little off the path for some wonderful views.
The Blue Mesa Loop Drive
Note how green it is. Spring!
Views down to the Blue Mesa trail. Saved for next trip.
This huge log was at the bottom of the canyon. I wish there had been a person in the picture for scale.
Newspaper Rock
The park system made some wise decisions in protecting these petroglyphs. There are viewing platforms above with no access to the rocks.
The Painted Desert
Maybe one of these days we'll take some time for backcountry exploration here.
Map from National Park Service website.
